More Topics

Weather Forecast

Forum News Service

Primary tabs

The Forum Communications News Service is the premier news wire service covering the Upper Midwest, including the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin. In addition to breaking and enterprise news, we offer a wide variety of sports, features, business, agriculture, outdoors and opinion content. For more information about the services we offer or to discuss content subscriptions, please contact us.

Twitter:

ForumNewsSVC

Contact Email

History

Author Content

ST. PAUL -- The Minnesota Legislature has voted to overturn a state law that forbids key state officials from discussing conforming to new federal identification standards. Senators passed the bill 57-2 Wednesday after representatives approved it 125-2 Tuesday night. It awaits an expected signature from Gov. Mark Dayton.

SARTELL — A bicyclist was killed Tuesday about 5:45 a.m. when he was hit by a vehicle while attempting to cross Minnesota Highway 15 near St . Cloud. The identity of the man was not released as of late Tuesday night. The Minnesota State Patrol said the driver of the Saturn that hit the bicyclist was Jason Stocker, 40, of Sartell. The crash took place at the intersection of Stearns County Road One and the four-lane divided highway. Road conditions were dry, the Patrol said.

ST. CLOUD — A 78-year-old Fargo woman hit the rear end of a Minnesota Department of Transportation truck about 11:40 a.m. Tuesday on Interstate 94 near St . Cloud. Shirley Sautter and the truck driven by Jerald Heinks, 59, of St. Cloud were both westbound on the interstate when Sautter’s Camry merged to the right and struck the rear of the MnDOT vehicle that had directional arrows on.. Sautter suffered injuries, but they were non life threatening. She was taken to a St. Cloud hospital. Heinks had no apparent injury.

STILLWATER, Minn. — Two Twin Cities men have been sentenced for attempting to meet with two teenage girls for sex. The convictions were part of a broad underage prostitution sting involving more than a dozen arrests by Twin Cities law enforcement.

CROOKSTON, Minn. — A man has been charged with manslaughter and other charges in connection with a man's death after an assault outside a Crookston bar on Christmas Day. Brock Dale Strommen, 28, of Crookston, is charged with first-degree manslaughter, fifth-degree assault and disorderly conduct. Strommen pleaded not guilty to all three charges after being summoned to Polk County District Court Tuesday on a grand jury indictment on the charges.

ST. PAUL -- Minnesota would not consider fantasy sports games to be gambling under legislation advancing this week. A bill by Rep. Tim Sanders, R-Blaine, would allow Minnesota to join other states that specifically exempt fantasy games from gambling laws. Other than the state lottery, the only legal gambling Minnesota allows is in American Indian casinos.

ST. PAUL -- Minnesota public sector union leaders smiled Tuesday when they received word that the U.S. Supreme Court preserved a major source of cash for organized labor. The case brought by non-union public school teachers in California had targeted fees that many states force non-union workers to pay to unions in lieu of dues. The money is used to fund collective bargaining and other activities.

ST. PAUL -- The Northstar commuter rail from downtown Minneapolis stops in Big Lake because lawmakers did not think the state had enough money to stretch it 27 more miles to St. Cloud. Rep. Jim Knoblach, R-St. Cloud, wants to expand the line to his community and Tuesday introduced a bill to do that. The legislation requires the state to begin talks with BNSF Railway Co. for the extension. It sets the existing St. Cloud Amtrak station as the destination.

ST. PAUL -- Legislation would allow local governments to host in-person absentee voting seven days before an election, with Minnesotans placing votes in a ballot box instead of going through a more complex application process that now is required. The bill by Rep. Denny McNamara, R-Hastings, would give each county the option of using the new or traditional absentee method.

ST. PAUL -- A person's financial support to a former spouse could be ended or changed when the ex moves on to another significant other under a bill Minnesota lawmakers are considering. The bill from Rep. Peggy Scott, R-Andover, would add a provision to make the changes when the person receiving the support begins living with another person. The person paying support would need to provide proof of the co-habitation to a court.